Pavel Aleksandrovich Soloviev

The design office of Pavel Solovyov developed the most fuel-efficient aircraft engines for airplanes and helicopters with the brands Tu, Il, MiG, Mi for about fifty years. Having a good theoretical background and exceptionally high working capacity, Solovyov was appointed deputy chief designer in 1948, in 1953 - chief designer of the OKB-19, in 1981 - general designer.

Those born in 1917 in the USSR were called the same age as the October Revolution. Pavel Soloviev was slightly older: he was born in June of that rebellious year. He was born on June 26, 1917 in the village of Alekino, Kineshma District, Ivanovo Region. In 1940 he graduated with honors from the Rybinsk Aviation Institute. S. Ordzhonikidze, received a degree in mechanical engineering, specializing in aircraft engines.

In April 1940, under the voucher of the People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry of the USSR, arrived at the newly created ECC of Plant No. 19 named after Stalin, Molotov (now Perm), where he began his career as a designer. There they quickly noticed the talent of an engineer and organizer. In 1942 he was appointed head of the design team. By the last year of the war, Pavel Aleksandrovich had already worked as a lead designer.

In 1948, the chief designer of the OKB-19 Arkady Dmitrievich Shvetsov turned to Stalin with the request to appoint Pavel Solovyov as deputy chief designer of the plant number 19 named after Stalin. In 1953, after the death of A.D. Shvetsov, head of the enterprise - by order of the Minister of Aviation Industry of the USSR, he was appointed Chief designer of the experimental design bureau of Plant No. 19 named after Stalin. He headed the company for 35 years. In this position, he worked all his life, only the position itself in 1981 changed the name. Since then, in the workbook Solovyov was: "General Designer".

In 1960, under his leadership, the first in the Soviet Union D-20P double-circuit turbojet engine for the Tu-124 with the record for those times parameters was created. This engine opened the era of the widest use of bypass engines in aviation. In 1961 he was awarded the academic title of professor of the department "Aircraft engines" of the Perm Polytechnic Institute. In 1967 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Technical Sciences.

For 36 years of the management of the Perm design bureau Pavel Alexandrovich, a unique design school was created, the engines of which currently transport more than half of all passengers and cargo in the CIS countries. A special place among the developments of the Perm design bureau is occupied by the D-30F6 and PS-90A engines, which absorbed all the experience of previous years. The D-30F6 two-circuit engine with an afterburner and adjustable nozzle, created for the MiG-31 interceptor fighter, is the first in the USSR and one of the first such engines in the world of a turbojet engine, which, as in the case of the D-20P, then becomes traditional for Russian and foreign engine building. Having been in service with air defense since 1980, the MiG-31 with two D-30F6s still has unsurpassed altitude and speed characteristics.

On April 27, 1981, he was appointed General Designer of the Motor-Building Design Bureau by a Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. In 1981 he was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of Lenin and State Prizes. He was awarded four Orders of Lenin, Orders of the October Revolution, the Red Banner of Labor, the Red Star, and medals of the Soviet Union. Since 1970, he was elected deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of all convocations. In 1973, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, he was awarded the title of Honored Scientist and Technician of the RSFSR.

The last in a long series of engines created by Solovyov, was the D-90. During the life of the designer, the engine was named after him: PS-90. PS - is "Pavel Solovyov." In 1987, by the order of the USSR Ministry of Aviation Industry, the public name of the D-90A engine was assigned the PS index (the abbreviation “Pavel Solovyov”).

For over 20 years he worked part-time as the head of the department "Aviadvigateli" and prof. PPI, was the chairman and member of the specialized council for the thesis defense. Prepared more than twenty Cand. sciences. Created a unique design school. In 1988, after retirement, by the joint decision of the board of the USSR Ministry of Aviation Industry and the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, he was appointed adviser to the leadership of the ICB of the IAP of the USSR.

Pavel Aleksandrovich is called one of the founders of the creation of highly economical double-engine engines for aviation purposes and the founder of the Perm design school for gas turbine engines. Under his leadership and with his active participation, the D-20P engine was developed for the Tu-124 aircraft, which became the first Soviet twin-turbojet engine in the USSR, as well as engines for the Tu-134, Mi-10, Il-76, Tu-154M, MiG 31.

In 1966, Pavel Aleksandrovich Solovyov was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor for great services in the development of the domestic motor industry, he was awarded the Lenin Prize (1978), the State Prize (1968). He was awarded four orders of Lenin, the Orders of the October Revolution, the Red Banner of Labor, the Red Star, the Medal for Labor Valor, the two diplomas of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, and the honorary aircraft builder badge.

Professor of the Perm Polytechnic Institute, Soloviev for many years headed the department of aircraft engines. But the name of a remarkable scientist and designer was assigned not to this university, but Solovyov’s alma mater to Rybinsk State Aviation Technical University.

He died on October 13, 1996, was buried in the city of Perm. In Rybinsk and Perm there are monuments to Solovyov, in Perm a street bears his name. His name rightfully ranks among the names of the country's brilliant galaxy of aircraft designers.